The Adventure of a Lifetime (2 page)

Betty's classroom was a perfect square. She pretended to be more interested in this shape than in Peggy and Shelly, who were watching her closely. She didn't want to tell them she had missed the bus because of Amber. They weren't big Amber fans, and just wouldn't understand how a book could make you late.

Betty's teacher, Mrs. Shumpridge, went to the front of the room and clapped her hands. “Settle down, class. I know it's the last day of school but we still have much to do. Our schedule is a bit different today, so I hope you pay attention. At the end of the day we'll sign yearbooks, but for now we will have ten minutes of silent reading.”

Betty went to get
Amber
the
Brave
from her backpack. As she made her way back to her desk, holding the book, she wondered what would happen next.

Opening the book, Betty found the place where she had left off. The crocodile dragons were about to bite Amber, but soon enough, Amber had tossed all of them onto the shore, where they burned and eventually turned into a pile of ashes.
Go, Amber!

Before Betty knew it, the ten minutes had flown by and Mrs. Shumpridge announced “Class, put your books away.”

As Betty slid her book into her desk she felt that it was going to be a long day. With her book probably gone for the rest of the school day, how would Betty ever get her proper dose of adventure?

The class finished writing, math, and science in the morning. During each subject, Betty felt like taking out her book and reading, but resisted, knowing she would get caught. It had happened before.

Thud.
Science textbooks closed.
Thump, thump, thump.
The third-graders made their way to the cafeteria, where they all sat down at the lunch table. Betty knew she had to tell Peggy and Shelly about what happened that morning, but she was pretty sure they weren't going to understand.

“So,” Peggy said.

“Right. Okay. Well, this morning, I woke up late! And so I went downstairs and ate and read—”

“Ate and read?” Shelly interrupted.

“Yes! I'm a multitasker.” Betty said impatiently. Peggy laughed, but was silenced by Betty's glare.

“And so, I missed the bus because I was reading
Amber
. Then your mom came and gave me a ride here,” Betty concluded. “But she said some weird stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Uh…nothing,” Betty said. How was she supposed to tell Peggy and Shelly what happened when she wasn't sure herself?

Now out of things to say, Betty awaited the twins' response. It was an awkward silence and Betty found herself staring at their outfits—the morning hadn't given her much time to look.

The twins were identical and often dressed the same—today, they were both wearing tie-dye shirts over denim skirts. Their bony faces had sharp features—pointy noses, high cheekbones, and hazel eyes that often seemed browner than green. The only difference was Peggy had glasses and braces, while Shelly had a deeper tan, due to the fact she spent more time outside.

Still nothing. The silence was frustrating, and Betty found herself looking at the clock, waiting for them to say something. It was 11:30. Betty sighed.

“So, you were late because of Amber?” Shelly finally asked.

“Well, it's
Amber
the
Brav
e
!” Betty replied in defense. “I'm telling you, it's wonderful! You guys should totally read it—”

“I like mysteries,” Shelly said. The athletic twin didn't read much, but when she did, it was always mystery. “Have you ever read a Nancy Drew book?”

“Well, no, but Amber—” Betty was cut off again.

“I love realistic fiction. Amber is just so unrealistic. I mean, fighting dragons at the age of what, nine?” Peggy chuckled.

Betty was deeply hurt. Amber was wonderful, so heroic, and so selfless.

Peggy was wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

“Okay, Amber is not nine, she's ten. That's one whole year older than us. We can't say bad things about her!” Betty exclaimed.

“Why not? You always say bad things about your older cousins,” Shelly pointed out.

“But that's different!” Betty half-shouted, exasperated. The whole table turned to stare, and, while Betty seemed oblivious to the attention, Peggy and Shelly blushed deeply in embarrassment.

“This is Amber! Amber the Brave!” Betty stood up and threw away her lunch in a nearby trash can, even though she had barely touched it She stormed out of the lunchroom, feeling angry and betrayed. The room returned to its regular chaos, but Shelly whispered to Peggy, as if the cafeteria were as silent as a graveyard, “She does know Amber's made up, right?”

Peggy, who was biting into her apple and staring at Betty's empty seat in disbelief, whispered back, “I hope so.”

After lunch and recess, the class went back to their room to finish the last day of school. Betty was feeling considerably better, but she had still spent recess alone, and Peggy and Shelly didn't try to cheer her up. They knew she would get over it eventually.

The class cleaned out their desks, removing all the school supplies, papers, artwork, and the occasional treats from Mrs. Shumpridge that had been jammed inside without second thought. The room was filled with happy chatter—cleaning was way easier than math. For Betty though, it was mission impossible.

And once again, she imagined herself as the heroic idol she wanted to be: Amber.

Amber
was
looking
for
something. She had dropped the device in this drawer about a year ago. It was something the agency had given her, something to test out, yet it had seemed so pointless Amber hadn't even tried. Now, though, she needed it.

It
was
a
flying
disc, small and silver. The disc could nail anything or anyone from about a mile away.

Amber
looked
back
at
the
door. Professor Scorp had run out that very door a few seconds ago. He had taken something—something, that if exposed, would reveal her top secret agency. She needed to get the disc.

She
needed
to
stop
him.

Anxiously, she threw everything out of the drawer until her hand closed on the disc. It was brand new. Amber wondered why she hadn't tried it. She tried to remember the day she had first seen it.

It
had
been
a
Tuesday. The contraption had arrived in a box with no return address. Amber had opened it and grabbed the disc, slightly disappointed. It didn't look special at all—more like a dog toy. She had looked back at all the other devices, so grand and helpful. The disk had ended up shoved in the back of the drawer, where Amber kept weird things like tools, half-eaten sandwiches, and useless presents that had accumulated over the years.

That
was
before
she
found
out
it
had
razors.

Professor
Scorp
had
destroyed
all
the
other
devices, even the ones on her belt. This was her last chance.

Amber
glanced
toward
the
door. Professor Scorp couldn't have gone far.

She
whispered
his
name
to
the
disc
and
threw
it. She watched it soar through the air, the sun glinting on its clean metal.

Suddenly, the razors shot out and the disc became engulfed in a hot crimson fire. Amber backed away, but it was not aiming towards her.

“
Ow,
” someone cried.

“Betty, what are you
doing?
” Shelly asked her. Betty blinked twice.

“Huh?”

“You just threw your math notebook at me!” Shelly, said, rubbing her head.

“Oh, I am so sorry! I thought you were Professor Scorp and I was Amber and I was trying to find this disc…” Betty trailed off. Shelly probably didn't want to hear it.

“Hey, it's okay. Just don't do it again,” Shelly answered.

“No way,” Betty answered, taking the garbage from her desk to the trash. She was one of the last to finish cleaning her desk, for she, along with Shelly, was terribly unorganized. Peggy had finished a while ago. She had a neat desk.

As Betty sat back down, Shelly whispered something in her ear.

“What!” Betty half-screamed, trying not to attract attention. She had already received too much today, in the morning and at lunch.

“It's true!” Shelly continued.

“So you're saying the sequel to
Amber
the
Brave
is coming out this month?”

“Yup. I heard someone talking about it.” Shelly nodded.

“What day?”

“Not sure. Maybe today,” Shelly answered.

“Today! I have to get it!”

The rest of the afternoon went by pretty fast. Betty was looking forward to going to the bookstore and getting the second book in the
Amber
series.

“Okay class, it's time to start yearbook signing,” Mrs. Shumpridge announced. “I will pass out yearbooks, and I suggest you start going around the room right away, because we only have twenty minutes. You are not allowed to go in any of the other third-grade classrooms to get signatures because they have already done their yearbook signing and you would be interrupting them. We will finish at three-fifteen and then we will pack up and I want to give each of you a little present. You may begin now,” Mrs. Shumpridge said, as her students got out their yearbooks and markers.

Betty waited anxiously for a yearbook with her name to come her way.

“What do you think the presents are?” Betty quietly asked her friends as they signed her yearbook.

“No clue,” Peggy answered.

When yearbook signing ended, Betty had signed all of her classmates' books and she had a yearbook for herself filled with sayings like “Have a great summer (H.A.G.S.)” or even “Hope you're in my class next year.” Some people had written a paragraph about her and some had just signed their name. At the end of it all, Betty had the signatures of every student in the classroom, expect for Tyler, a red-headed boy whom she hated. She hadn't signed his and she didn't even care if he didn't or did sign her yearbook. If he signed, Betty would put Wite-Out over it.

Seriously
.

Betty and her class soon lined up in a not-so-straight line. Mrs. Shumpridge, in a short-sleeve red shirt and white jeans, looked like Santa, especially since she had a heavy red sack slung over her shoulder.

As people got their presents, the words “Awesome,” or even “Awww,” filled the room. Betty impatiently waited for her present, and as Mrs. Shumpridge got closer, Betty saw the presents were books, which was fine with her. Everyone seemed to be getting different books.
What
would
Betty
get?

Mrs. Shumpridge was soon face-to-face with Betty, looking at her with warm eyes.

“I wish you a wonderful summer!” she said as she handed Betty a book. The cover showed a girl rafting on a ferocious river. On the top were three words:
Amber's Big Adventure
.

“How, w-w-hat? Huh?” Betty stammered.

“I bought two copies—although, being an Amber fan, I'd suspect you would have known about the new book.”

“Well, I heard it was coming out, but—but this is amazing! Thank you so much!” Betty felt like hugging Mrs. Shumpridge, but didn't want to be branded a teacher's pet for the rest of elementary school.

Mrs. Shumpridge had reached the end of the line. Betty looked happily at the new book, and felt her backpack for the first one in the series. She felt so good right now—nothing could spoil her mood!

Well, except for the school bus.

Betty had soon boarded the bus—a terrible vehicle covered in gum, dust, sweat, and fear. Since it was the last day of school, it was nosier than usual. Even the big kids, who considered themselves too old to do so, were chanting with the kindergartners, “School is over! School is over!” The bus driver had put on loud classical music to drown them out, and although Betty wanted to, it was impossible to read. So she looked out the window at the scenery—the green trees and warm sun. There were a few stores on the way home, and one of them was the bookstore.

Betty loved the bookstore. She loved its long rectangular shape and the smell of books, a bit like new erasers. She loved the posters stuck to the windows, advertising new books. And then she saw it.

A poster.

A poster saying
Amber's Big Adventure
was being released June 22. It was now May 29.

The book was in Betty's hands.

In a trance, she got off the bus at her stop and walked up to the door. After exchanging quick hellos and how-was-your-days with her mom, she walked up to her room, staring at the second
Amber
book in puzzlement. Betty could hear her mom asking her to come down and tell her about her day, but she was too confused to do anything.

She had the book.

Yet no one else did.

Sitting on her bed, Betty took some deep breaths. Everything in her room was spinning; everything in her mind was spinning. She saw her desk—a wooden table topped with about a million papers—pass her a couple of times. Betty didn't use it, and she didn't even try to clean it. Her dresser and vanity were messes too, littered with things like game pieces, rubber bands, and hair pins. It was “abstract.”

Betty lay on her bed and stared at the book in her hands. It was twice as long as Amber's previous book. Even though she was shaking with excitement, she couldn't help wondering how her teacher had gotten a copy.

Breathe
, Betty told herself. She put
Amber's Big Adventure
down and grabbed
Amber
the
Brave
from her bag.

Betty lay down on her orange comforter and opened her book. Even though she was confused and slightly tired from thinking so much, she knew it was nothing another chapter or two of Amber couldn't cure. She found her page and sat back contentedly.